Server Hard Drive Power States

[therealnerd2]

Hi all!

I've currently running a server with 4 500GB HDs, which do nothing but maintain files, do some backups and stream some media.

My question is: Would it be better for the hard drives (read longer life) for them to be powered down after XX minutes of inactivity (which just adds 2-3 seconds of delay for me) or to be left on permanently.

I 'heard' that it was powerups that killed Hard Drives.........?

Cheers,
Sam

 

[decto]

Hi,

Hard power cycling does stress components, eg. some components suddenly go from cold to hot. Stresses during spin up will be higher than at a steady state. A drive is most likely to fail during startup... at least that's when it's noticed.

HDD's are built with an expectation that they will spin up and down on a regular basis especially as WinXP with it's power saving options is very common.

The western digital site is useful, drive specification sheets are easy to find for the range of models and quote start stop cycles as 50,000 minimum. That's 27 a day for 5 years... well into the time a drive should be on the replacement list.

Personally I let them power down after 30 minutes even though the drives are rated as 24/7. Many desktop drives aren't rated for 24/7 duty so that may be worth considering.

I'm sure there will be as many for as against..... It comes down to personal choice and perhaps that a spinning drive uses about 8watts so £30 per year to keep them turning.

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[therealnerd2]

Thanks for the info - i'm off to have a read of the spec sheets now.

Power isnt an issue since in my halls of residence all power is part of the rent